[Am-info] Gates' taxes

[Erick Andrews]

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 21:36:04 -0400, John J. Urbaniak wrote:

>I was watching the O'Reilly show tonight.
>
>He had a guest, I forget the name, who wrote a book titled "Perfectly
>Legal" dealing with various tax issues.

The fellow who wrote the book was on NPR with Dick Gordon on 
WBUR this AM.  I only caught the last half of it in my car, though.

>He claimed that "Bill Gates' fortune, because it was based on a $50,000
>gift from his father, has never been taxed."
>
>Over $50 BILLION of personal capital gains plus all the billions he has
>already cashed in and they have *never been taxed*?

This NPR broadcast had some interesting folks on.  Besides the guy
that wrote the book, there was an (ex- , I think) IRS man.  Interesting
talk about leasing a German city's sewer system to an American entity
under a lease loophole to accelerate a tax write-off.  If the BG thing
came up, I missed it, but the spirit of your subject is nonetheless the same.


>I knew that Gates' salary is relatively low, so he pays little federal
>taxes on his income.  But I thought that at least his capital gains from
>sale of MSFT stock and options were taxable when exercised.
>
>Has anyone read this book?

I haven't yet, but I intend to.  My sis-in-law is a librarian.  I must ask
her to grab it for me if she can.

>Does anyone know if this is true?

I don't yet.  I believe it is, but I'd like to verify it.

>Can you please explain?

I hope to, right after I read more about Emma Goldman,
who's bio I barely caught on PBS when I came home out of 
the rain today.  At least the parts I got fixed the sink leak.

Oh yeah, I mailed my taxes today, too.  Did you?

>
>Thanks,
>
>John

Erick